Sexualised ads don't work and yield no results, according to latest research

Sexualised ads like Protein World's have no impact on sales tend to negatively impact on the brand's reputation

Provocative advertising campaigns have little impact on sales and can have a negative effect on a brand's image, according to new research.

John Wirtz, an advertising professor at the University of Illinois, combined data from 78 studies that examined the efficacy of sex appeal in adverts.

The study, titled 'The effect of exposure to sexual appeals in advertisements on memory, attitude, and purchase intention results', found that audiences were no more likely to recall a brand's name or purchase a product if an ad campaign used sexualised content.

Wirtz, who recently published his analysis in the International Journal of Advertising, said: "We found literally zero effect on participants’ intention to buy products in ads with a sexual appeal.

“This assumption that sex sells – well, no, according to our study, it doesn’t. There’s no indication that there’s a positive effect.”

Protein World's is perhaps the most prominent example of sexualised ads negatively impacting on a brand's image. It's 'beach body ready’ campaign in 2015 was widely criticised on social media and saw 378 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).